FREMONT - Dave Scagnetti, in his third time competing at Fremont’s Got Talent, opened his act with a couple jokes, which the crowd gave a hearty laugh, but when he began to sing the mood changed quickly.

As the people’s choice award is chosen by audience member’s placing money in the favorite respective performer’s jar, Scagnetti said all he found in his last year was merely two pennies and a piece of hotdog bun.

“This year, I went back and looked again... there was two pennies and a piece of hotdog bun,” Scagnetti said. “Now, either they don’t clear the jar out or we have a repeat offender. But remember part of this going to a good cause, so load those jars up.”

Half of the money raised from the people’s choice award donations went to Fight For Recovery, a local nonprofit organization that aims to help people struggling with drug addiction.

The event is hosted and organized by the Fremont Exchange Club and a small army of volunteers. Now in its eighth year, club member and emcee Bruce Joseph said a total of around $40,000 has been raised for charity over the life of the show.

For Scagnetti, an electronic technician at Cedar Point, it was the third year. He had not placed in either of his prior two, so he again jokingly asked the crowd to bow their heads and lower their expectations of his upcoming songs.

But Scagnetti’s opening rendition of Jackie Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops” easily earned him a spot in the finals. In the next round, he switched gears.

“I thought I’d try something different,” he said. “I started out with a rock ‘n’ roll song, because those are just fun to do. And then I thought, I’ve done this three years now and nobody’s done opera. Why not give it a shot?”

Scagnetti’s shot at opera paid off as his breath-taking performance ended in a standing ovation from the packed crowd at Birchard Park on Sunday.

It also helped him win first place and the grand prize of $1,000.

“Third year’s a charm, you know,” Scagnetti said.

All of the performers in this year’s show did not make the judges’ job easy, Joseph said, as this was one of the closest competitions Fremont’s Got Talent has ever had.

Alex and Nickolas Davenport, of the Davenport Twins, won second place and $600. Zuriana Antonio, of Port Clinton won third place and $400.

Sunni Brandon, 17, won the youth award, as the top performer under 18, and $300. The dance duo of Jamie Sampsel and Alivia Lunsford won the people’s choice award.

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Dave Scagnetti, center, won first place and the grand prize of $1,000 at Fremont's Got Talent in Birchard Park on Sunday.(Photo: Jon Stinchcomb/The News-Messenger)